THE SUNDAY FICTION MAGAZINE, MAY 21, 1916.
overtaking us, ana but for my knife we He knew when to fight and when to
are unarmed." flee. At present there was nothing' to flee
N'u bent to hi.s paddle. On th . -t from, but a place of safe hiding must be
wallowed toward the open sea.
was their first concern. He grasped Gron by
no chance to elude the pursuers anil turn the wrist
north.
First they must put sufficient distance
between them that the others might not
see 'which way they turned. But there
seemed little likelihood of their being able
to accomplish this, for, strive as they
would, they could not shake off the silent
twain upon their trail.
The darkest hours of the night were
upon them those that precede dawn.
They struggled to outdistance their
pursuers. That they were lengthen
ing the distance between the two
boats seemed certain. In another
few minutes tbey might risk the
stratagem.
But they had scarcely more than turned
when the surge of surf upon a beach rose
directly before them. Both were nonplused.
What had happened? Where were
they?
They had been moving straight out to
sea for some time, and yet there could be
no mistaking that familiar sound land
was directly ahead of them. To turn back
now would mean to run straight into the
arms of their pursuers which neither had
the slightest desire to do.
Had Nu been armed he would not have
hesitated to grapple with the two occu
pants of the boat that had clung so tena
ciously to their wake, but with only the
woman's knife and a couple of wooden
paddles it would have been a fruitless
thing to do.
Exerting all their strength, the two
drove the dugout through the surf until
Its nose ran upon the sand. Then they
leaped out and dragged the boat still far
ther up beyond the reach of the mightiest
roller.
Where were they?
Nu guessed a part of the truth. He
reasoned that they had fallen upon the
same island from which he had seen Nat
ul snatched by the Boat Builder, and from
which he himself had escaped so. recently,
v- But he was not quite right.
"Come!" he said.
We must find a cave
I l, UillU S. II 1 II KUIII til III im 1 Vr'jasSSKKT' tf
make the best of It
until daylight re
turned it would
never do to roam
through the woods
unarmed at night
longer than was ab
solutely necessary.
N u was accus
tomed to sleeping In
trees.
His people often
did so when on the
when the quarry of
the chase led them overfar from
their caves by day, necessitating
the spending of the night abroad;
but Gron was not so familiar
with life arboreal. She clung,
fearful, to the bole of the tree in
a position that precluded sleep.
Nu showed her hoy to com
pose herself upon a limb with her back to
the tree stem, but even then she was
afraid of falling should she chance to doze.
At last Nu placed an arm about her to
support her, and thus she slept, her head
pillowed upon the shoulder of tier enemy.
The ; sun was high when the sleepers
awoke. Gron was the first to open her
eyes. For a moment "she was bewildered
by the strangeness of her surroundings.
Where was she?
Upon what was her head pillowed? She
raised her eyes. They fell upon the sun
tanned, regular features of the godlike Nu.
Slowly recollection forced Its way
through the misty pall of somnolence. She
felt the arm of the man about her, still
firmly flexed in protective support. This
was her enemy the enemy of her people.
She looked at Nu through new eyes. It
was as though the awakening day had
brought an awakening of her soul. The
man was undeniably beautiful of a mas-
an should thus flee her own culine beauty that was all strength,
people to save him, a stran- Gron closed her eyes again dreamily
ger and ap enemy." Again he and let her head sink closer to the strong,
raised the question that Gron brown shoulder.
had so illy answered. . But presently came entire wakefulness,
"Why do you seek to save and with it a full return of actively func-
me," he asked, "from your tionlng recollection.
own people?" With a sudden intaking of her breath
"I do not seek to save that was almost a scream. Gron sat erect,
you," replied the woman. "I The movement awakened Nu. He opened
wish to make Tur mad that his eyes, looked at the woman, and remov-
ls all. He will think I have ing his arm from about her stood upright
run off to mate with you. upon the tree branch.
When he thinks that, you "First, we must seek food and weap-
may die for all I care. I ons," he said, "and then return to the
hate you, but not quite so jand that holds my country. Come."
much as I hate Tur." His quick eyes had scanned the ground
below. There were no beasts of prey in
CHAPTER XII. sight. Nu lowered the woman to the base
As Nu led Gron through of thei tree, leaping lightly to her side.
the dark night Fruits, growing in plentltude, assuaged
2tlkc1-ft y. -r-, j,ki amiUBi me uiatnnrps a -
- i'AN-. of tropical plistfea, Nu led the way Inland toward
Their strenuous paddling during the or a tree to preserve us until the day forest that clothed the gentle ascent lead- hjgher ground, where he might find grow
hours of darkness had carried them to the comes again." ing inland from the beach he grinned at in th harder necessary for a spear-
north of the nearer island and beyond It. The woman cast a backward glance the thought: of Tur's discomfiture, as well shaft-;
As a matter of fact they had been deposit- over her shoulder a way with women. as at the candor of his rescuer. A fire-hardened point was the best that
ed upon the southern coast of the largest "Look!" she whispered, and pointed But now Nu was the protector. He he might hope for temporarily, unless
Island of the group, which lay several toward the surf. might have; left the woman to shift for chance should direct him upon a fragment
miles northeast of the one with which Nu Nu looked, and there upon the crest of herself, but the Idea of deserting Gron of leek-green nephrite or a piece of flint,
had had acquaintance. a great wave, outlined against the dark never occurred to him. Onward and upward 'toiled the search -
But what mattered It? horizon, loomed a boat In which sat two She was a woman. She had saved Nu's era, biut though they scaled the low and
- One was as bad as another. Both be- figures, plying paddles. One glance was life. Her motive was of negligible lm- rugged mountains that paralleled the,
longed to the mysterious country-. They enough. port. coast ithey came upon neither the straight,
were Inhabited by hideous flying reptiles. The pursuers were close upon them. In the darkness Nu found a large tree, hard wood that Nu sought nor any sign of
and legend held that frightful men dwelt Nu, still holding Gron's wrist, started He entered the lower branches to recon- the prized minerals from which he might
upon them. And Nu was without weapons toward the black shadows above the noiter. There were no dangerous foes fashion a spear head, an ax, or a knife,
of defense! beach. The woman ran by his side. lurking there, so he reached down and as- Down th further slopes of the moun-
Nu was lost, but far from hopeless. Nu wondered not a little that the worn- sisted Gron to his side. There they must tains they made their way, glimpsing at
They were not yet
out of reach of the
weapons. He reached
down with his right
hand and picked ap
a loose bit of rock,
hurling it toward the
nearest spearman.